2001: A Space Odyssey
Directed by Stanley Kubrick
Released 1968
9Near perfect — Outstanding, tiny flaws at most
- Watched
- June 11, 2026
- Format
- TV
- Platform
- Apple (owned)
- Location
- Home
- With
- Heather
Oscars · 1969
4 nominations · 1 win
| Category | Nominees | Won |
|---|---|---|
| Best Special Visual Effects | Stanley Kubrick | This film |
| Best Art Direction | Art Direction, Set Decoration: Anthony Masters, Harry Lange, Ernest Archer | — |
| Best Directing | Stanley Kubrick | — |
| Best Writing (Story and Screenplay -- Written Directly for the Screen) | Stanley Kubrick, Arthur C. Clarke | — |
My take
What a stunning, visually beautiful and stimulating movie. From the opening black screen, to the eternally famous sunrise on the planet music. The ape/neanderthal costumes were surprisingly impressive. And my goodness everything about the visuals in space were gorgeous and you can see exactly where Star Wars came from (especially when the big bay opens). The grounding shoes or whatever they were called were very clever and created some fun moments and impressive acting. I loved hearing the "I'm sorry Dave, I'm afraid I can't do that" in its full context. I followed the plot literally and even philosophically decently way until the last 20 minutes when he drops in the space/time continuum or worm hole portal thing. The visuals of the actual experience were awesome and so impressive given they weren't made on a computer so I genuinely don't know how they were done because not only were they abstract but there were real images in there. But the actual ending of Dave finding himself aging in the bizarre gaudy mansion was so strange. And actually since Dave won the battle against HAL I'm not even sure I get the evolution theory. And was the monolith giving people power or intelligence? Honestly I have no idea. The baby at the end was the point where I threw up my hands and said out loud to mom who was watching it with me, "I have no idea what this is but I absolutely love it" haha. We're watching this movie plus close encounters of the third kind tonight in prep for Disclosure Day tomorrow.